Venezuela: Hugo Chavez: Being Rich Is Bad

Question: What was Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s net worth when he died?

Answer: When Hugo Chavez, socialist president of Venezuela, died in 2013, the future Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: ‘Thanks Hugo Chavez for showing that the poor matter and wealth can be shared. He made massive contributions to Venezuela and a very wide world.’ With it vast oil reserves, Venezuela should be one of the most prosperous nations on Earth. Instead, it is ranked the world’s sixth most dangerous country, where shortages of water, food, medicine and electricity have led to widespread social unrest and crime.

On more than one occasion, Chavez declared that ‘being rich is bad’, often adding: ‘Rich people attack me for saying that, but I claim it is bad.’

However, he managed to amass a great deal of personal wealth. At the time of his death, his family owned 17 country estates totalling more than 100,000 acres plus at least $550 million (£360 million) in international bank accounts.

Furthermore, in 2015 it was reported that Chavez’s favourite daughter and heir, Maria Gabriela, had bank accounts in the US and Andorra totalling nearly $4.2 billion (£3 billion), accrued through her inheritance and sweetheart deals with various Latin American companies.